controlled chaos – or is it?

Pyloric Stenosis

You know how you have this weird feeling sometimes that something is just not right? That’s the way I felt when my 4 week old starting vomiting randomly during the day and night. He had never spit up or vomited before; he just all of sudden started around 4 weeks of age. Initially I thought he was starting with reflux. Kennedy spit up until she was 6 months old, so I just figured he was taking after his sister. However, this was nothing like just spit up. It was full force projectile vomiting, and I knew something was not right.

After Day 5 (with the symptom getting progressively worse) I brought him to our pediatrician. She immediately suspected Pyloric Stenosis. I had never heard of such a diagnosis, so naturally I freaked out a little. She said the main symptom was projectile vomiting (Check!), the problem usually presents itself between 3-5 weeks of age (Check!), and it commonly happens to the first born male (Check!)

She sent us straight for an abdominal ultrasound – his very first ultrasound outside of my belly. The ultrasound showed he was in the beginning stages of Pyloric Stenosis – but not in the need for surgery yet. We had to watch him over the weekend and repeat the ultrasound on Monday.

Over that weekend, he progressively became worse…to the point where he was vomiting every bottle. By Monday he started to lose ounces in his weight. The repeat ultrasound confirmed Pyloric Stenosis. Basically, it’s a block between the stomach and the intestine…not allowing food to pass through (therefore it must come up). Unfortunately the only fix is surgery. Doctors prefer to perform surgery fairly quickly since the vomiting could cause dehydration. We went straight from the ultrasound to Oschner Medical where we met with his doctor there.

One of the hardest parts that day was trying to make a 4 week old fast. He had not had a bottle in almost 12 hours. He was not happy. One thing that made him stop crying for at least a couple minutes was his dad doing bicep curls with his car seat. For some reason, he loved being lifted up and down…up and down. Maybe he thought we were leaving poor baby.

Finally they came to take him to surgery (I do not wish that on any mother).
Basically the surgeon went through his belly button to cut through the muscle that was too thick for his food to pass through.

His sisters were there to help pass the time in the waiting room. They kept us and the other people waiting very entertained :)

They wanted to draw Easton some pictures for his room. We were not prepared with paper and crayons, but thankfully Maw had a calendar they could write and draw on for Easton. Kennedy told me she drew three E’s in a row…because she wanted Easton to get better in three days :)

His surgery went smoothly – only took about 30 minutes. When he woke up in recovery he was not happy. Again, he could not eat and he was starving. He made a lot of noise in that recovery room!

Slowly, he started getting an ounce at a time. It’s amazing how he just woke up not vomiting anymore. The medical field is wonderful.

I made sure to put his big sisters calendar artwork in his bed! They were so proud.

Since he was tolerating all his feedings, we were able to go home after one night. I took a picture like this because Seth is one of those guys who looks even hotter when he’s carrying kid :)

Thank you, Jesus, it was not an invasive surgery and he will have no long term effects. He can now take a full bottle and have a full belly…which makes him all smiles!

We were so humbled by the hundreds of comments, texts, calls, and prayers for Easton. I say this all the time, but we truly have the best family and friends. They make hard times just a little bit easier :)